How can cycling help avoid coronavirus?

The question that probably most of us keep on asking right now - how to stop the spread of coronavirus and how to protect ourselves against it?The World Health Organisation recommendsto: wash our hands frequently, maintain social distancing and avoid touching our eyes, nose and mouth. But what if we need to move around our city? How to do it in the safest way possible, without endangering our health or other’s health?

How to protect ourselves?

It turns out that the best solution is the simplest one - riding a bike. We should certainly avoid using public transport. The handrails on the train stations, stairways and in the metro are touched by thousands of people every day. These places are also usually extremely crowded and it might be hard to maintain a safe distance from other people . For instance, on the London Underground, where there is a very high density of people crowded into each carriage, previous research has suggested a link between commuting and the likelihood of catching respiratory illnesses.

Obviously, we shouldn’t panic, but at the same time, we should do our best to prevent spreading the virus. Let’s stay at home and if we need to travel around the city - choose bikes. For example, in New York, which is known for crowded public transport, the share of bikes in total transport rose by 50% compared to the average from March last year. New Yorkers have realized that cycling is probably the best way to commute. Maybe now is also the time for us to switch to riding a bike?This decision will certainly be beneficial for our health, but also the planet.

How cycling can help?

Soon, you will have a great argument to convince your friends to choose a bicycle, because the Business Cycling Challenge is starting. It will be a cycling league made of company teams which, while competing, want to achieve common goals - better health, a cleaner environment and less polluted cities. We can achieve these goals together by choosing a bike instead of a car or other means of transport.

Another benefit of cycling is that it strengthens our immunity system. According to the study of the British Medical Journal, cycling was the mode of transport most strongly linked to a reduced risk of death, cardiovascular disease and cancer. As we can observe, cycling is certainly a better way of commuting than public transport or a car, because it’s not only beneficial for our health, but also decreases the risk of infecting others. Let’s not choose cars if we are not forced to do so, because it will cause enormous traffic jams in the cities.

Let’s take care of ourselves and the health of our loved ones. We should not panic, but also do not forget about the most important precautions that will help us make rational decisions in the near future.